Google isn’t just a search engine. It can be a very good marketing tool as well. There are numerous Google business tools that are very helpful to all the marketers out there. Check out this quick tips guide to find out what is out there and why you should be using it for your marketing efforts!
Source: TrafficSoda
GMB Listing aka Google My Business
You do have your GMB listing claimed right? If not then you need to claim it right now here Google My Business and you can get some great free local visibility. Ever wondered what the listings are in your local organic search results; its probably GMB listings for local businesses. While Googles algorithms are far from perfect, they are getting better and better at localising searches based on IP specific information from your mobile device, computer or other devices. You need to fill out your profile as fully as possible, opening hours, website URL (site must be working), description of the business and select at least two or three categories. The next thing is to ask some past customers to leave reviews and continue getting new ones from your recent customers. This is a great way to promote your business. To bump your maps listing higher, you can focus on getting citations to your company address around the internet.
Source: Google Ads
Google Ads
This used to be called Google Adwords but was recently rebranded as Google ads. It essentially does the same thing but under the new name. It is one of the favourite marketing techniques of the most successful SEO company‘s who are Google certified and know the ins and out of the complex Google Ads system. You can use either the Google display network which allows you to run your adverts on other websites that are part of the display network (ever wondered how Google knows how to target you with ads for things you recently searched for?). The other option is the Google search network which allows you to also use pay per click ads to display in the Google search results when those keywords are searched for(the sponsored listings at the top of the page).
The search network allows you to bid for clicks on keywords, the higher competition (or value) the keyword, the higher the cost per click but potentially the higher value per new customer. Our tip for starting with AdWords is to start small, do a lot of keyword research, monitor what your competition is doing, and emulate the ones that seem to be doing best to reduce your time from seeing results.
Source: Search Engine Journal
Google Alerts – Alerts allows you to monitor the latest news and brand mentions. It is a notification service for change detections. You can also use it to monitor the competition; see where they are creating profiles and mimic them and also watch out for their brand mentions and see if you can get some yourself from those sources.
Google + Business pages – this is so last year! Google + flopped and is now defunct and unable to be used (it was rubbish, to be honest, I mean circles? What’s that all about!
Google Trends Last but by no means least is Google trends. This tool helps you to discover new keywords and growing niches and trends in internet searches. You can use it to see seasonal variations in keyword searches and monitor how markets and searches are changing. An example of seasonal variations would be to compare the keyword ‘christmas decorations’ in December and then in May. You will likely find that December has a lot more searches! You can check out Google Trends.
Source: The Encarta
